A HIGHBRIDGE wheelchair user has spoken of her struggle to cope in her new home - where she cannot access her bedroom and shower upstairs.

Sylvia Jamieson, 52, moved into her new home in Mariners Close three months ago, but cannot get upstairs as there is no stairlift.

Foster carer Sylvia, who suffers from angina, arthritis, Crohn's disease, diabetes and asthma, is instead forced to sleep on a couch in her living room and to clean herself, she either has to have a strip wash or use a relative's shower.

She admits she knew the property had no stairlift before moving in but insists she had no alternative as she was having serious family problems back in London and was in a rush to move.

She said: “It is degrading and I am getting more and more depressed. I was told it would be a yearlong wait for a stairlift.

“I'm in and out of hospital all the time; my care has been cut, and my daughter, who is 18, won't go to college because she is too afraid to leave me on my own.

“This place was my final offer so I felt I had to take it - the house is lovely but it doesn't meet my needs.”

John Thomson, chief executive of social housing landlord SHAL, said: “When someone accepts one of our properties we always try to provide a high standard of service.

“But if it doesn't turn out to be exactly what they need they have the opportunity to carry out a mutual exchange to more suitable accommodation, or apply for a disabled facilities grant from the local authority to help adapt the property.”